


Marine Education

by lagunasfaeries



Category: Tales of Xillia, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3
Genre: Because I did, F/M, Fluff, Multi, is it weird that I envisioned this at Galdin Quay from FFXV, kinda romantic?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 04:57:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16847560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lagunasfaeries/pseuds/lagunasfaeries
Summary: The guild arrives at their vacation spot for the next week, and everyone disperses, finding ways to enjoy themselves. Earhart has something on her mind, but doesn't know how exactly to say it.





	Marine Education

"Where is he..." Kanonno Earhart used her hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked around the pier area of where her group was supposed to meet. 

"It hasn't been very long, Earhart. And why are you shielding your eyes? You're already wearing sunglasses." Beside her, Kanonno Grassvalley giggled. She was (almost) always amused by her best friend's antics. 

"Oh. I guess you're right..." Rather than put her hand down, Earhart took her glasses off. "But man. I'm getting antsy.  Jude isn't the type to run late. I mean, have you seen that nerd whenever he has to be somewhere? He's always super early."  

"Yes, but Earhart." Grassvalley giggled again. "We're very early. That's why Ludger hasn't yet arrived, either, or anyone else, really." 

"Oh..." Earhart said softly. 

The two young women were waiting for their friends, so they could officially begin to enjoy this vacation. They had rooms at an exquisite seaside hotel, which included a gourmet restaurant, and nice, clear waters for swimming and fishing. And of course, the amazing beaches. It was going to feel great to relax and take some time away from working! 

"Hey, girls! Am I late?"

"Are you late?! We've been here for ages, Jude!" Earhart said dramatically. "And what in the name of the World Tree are you wearing?!" 

"This..?" asked Jude, looking down at his outfit. He was wearing a white button-down shirt with subtle blue accents on the collar and button area, and swim trunks depicting the Four Great Spirits, in many vibrant colors. "Mileena picked it out for me. You don't like it?"

"Oh, Jude." Earhart just laughed. "Mileena's cute, and she's great, but you should've asked Grassvalley for help. She gets fashion. She even helped me with my swimsuit you see me wearing now!" She twirled, to show it off. 

"Would you like me to explain the thought process of the selection of the whole outfit?" asked Grassvalley excitedly- but before Jude could answer, she'd already moved to begin explaining. 

"Earhart loves the color blue, and when I found this cute set, I had to point it out to her! The strapless top with ruffles defines her minimal bust-"

"Hey!" Earhart complained. 

"-while still keeping the look very girly and cute. The bows here, on the sides of her bikini bottom, also add to that. The print, which is daisies and watermelon slices, are nice and summery, as bright as her personality. And the look is completed with the shirt, which we bought in plain white, but Earhart convinced me that airbrushing a pineapple on it would make it even cuter- and how correct she was!" Grassvalley smiled with pride. 

Jude smiled back at her. "You two really are peas in a pod," he said. "It's a shame Pasca isn't here."

"Yes, well, she sends her regards." Grassvalley folded her hands, her gaze downcast. She missed Pasca. "I hope that she can get a vacation soon, as well."

"Hey, guys!" Everyone turned to see Ludger Will Kresnik descending the staircase that led to the pier, also dressed in swim attire: his orange swim trunks and his Rollo parka. "Sorry I took so long."

"It's quite all right! You're early, in fact!" Grassvalley waved to him. 

"Ew, avert your eyes, Jude," Earhart said. "Diabetes-inducing lovey-dovey stuff in 3, 2, 1..." 

Right on cue, Ludger made it over to them, and gave Grassvalley a tight hug. After he released her he asked, "What's going on? Have we discussed any plans for the day yet?" 

"Not at the moment. It's so hot... swimming sounds fun," suggested Earhart. 

"Swimming? For that I'd have to change..." Grassvalley said softly. 

"Isn't that a swimsuit?" asked Earhart, confused, pointing to Grassvalley's clothes. Clearly, the one-piece with a halter top she was wearing had to be a swimsuit, right? It certainly looked like one. 

"It's beach attire," replied Grassvalley. "The difference being that I can't get this wet. If I were to swim, I'd need to put on a set that can. Oh, but swimming would ruin my hair, and I just got it done yesterday!"

Earhart just sighed. "Why are you like this, Grassvalley." 

"I kind of wanted to check out the tackle shop," added Ludger. "I've never fished, but I was reading the magazine that was left in my room, and it has my interest now." 

"I'd like to come with you!" Grassvalley volunteered. "That way I don't get in the water, and we spend time together!" 

"There are no negatives there." Ludger smiled back at her, and the two linked arms to go over to the tackle shop. 

"Does Grassvalley even have the upper body strength to fish?" asked Earhart when they left. 

"I doubt it," admitted Jude, with a chuckle. "Well, thinking about it more, she has strength from wielding her sword, but I don't think she'd know how to apply that to fishing. There's a lot of tactical skill involved." 

"Then why'd she make such a quick decision to go?!" asked Earhart. 

"She just wants to be near Ludger, and vice versa. They're cute together." Jude smiled. 

Earhart fidgeted a little. "I guess…"

Earhart had decided that while they were on this trip, she wanted to tell Jude of the feelings she'd developed for him. She'd thought it'd be easy once she found out that Grassvalley was head over heels for Ludger, one of Jude's friends, but it was proving to be more difficult than she thought... mainly because she kept chickening out on when to say something. 

"Oh, there they are over there," Jude pointed. "I wonder if they know enough about the local fish population to catch anything. Oh, and the local fishing ordinances so they know if they can keep any fish, or have to put them back. And-"

Jude was cut off as Earhart pushed him forward; and he went tumbling into the water. "Ah-" 

Splash. 

He surfaced, spitting out the water that had inadvertently went into his mouth. "What did you do that for?!"

"Don't be such a crybaby," Earhart laughed. "Hold on, I'm coming in." 

She took off her shirt and headband, and got a running start, before cannonballing into the water beside Jude. "Ah, that feels so good! I was dying in this heat." 

"I think-" Jude started, but was cut off by Earhart letting out a high-pitched yelp. 

"What was that?!" She looked down. "Is that a fish? Did a fish just nip at my ankle?"

"Oh, that looks like a glowing barrelfish," Jude noted. "If we're out here at night, they'll be easy to spot; they glow in the dark because of their DNA composition. When their amino acids combined to make chromosomes..."

Earhart zoned out as Jude began to talk. She didn't always understand, or even care, about all this technical science stuff, but hearing Jude talk about it always sent her heart aflutter. He was always so cute whenever he started sharing his knowledge...

"...resulting in the glowing color. That's fascinating, isn't it, Earhart?" he finished. 

"Yeah!" She nodded eagerly. "Come on, let's go swimming a little!"

"Okay, sure." 

Earhart dove underwater, and Jude followed. He was hoping he'd be able to see the aquatic life up close... but for now, he'd enjoy getting to hold Earhart's hand like this. 

~ * ~ 

Jude stared out at the horizon, sitting on the sandy beach beside Earhart, neither of them speaking. 

This wouldn't do... he had to say something! But what? What could he possibly say to such a wonderful girl now that he finally had some time alone with her? 

"...did you know that sea urchins are somewhat closely related to sea cucumbers?" 

And of course, his brain defaulted to science. 

"Really?" asked Earhart, intrigued. "But one's all spiny and the other is nice and sleek, right?"

"Actually, sea cucumbers have more of a leathery texture," replied Jude. "They're really helpful to marine ecosystems because they help recycle and break down nutrients to a point where bacteria can further break them down."

"Wow. And here I thought they were just... kinda like regular cucumbers, just underwater." Earhart was practically hypnotized. "Tell me more about the sea, Jude." 

Jude blushed, noticing the swoon in Earhart's voice; thankfully, it wasn't noticeable in the twilight. "More? Well, I don't know as much about aquatic life as I do human biology and such, but I can tell you a little about coral reefs and such."

Suddenly, he felt the presence of someone behind him, and turned to see Ludger and Grassvalley returning. "Hey, there's Jude and Earhart!" the former said as they approached. 

"Hey, guys!" Earhart waved. "Had enough?"

"Well, it's getting dark out," replied Ludger. "Can't really fish in those conditions, even with the glowing guys."

"Did you learn a lot about fishing, Grassvalley?" asked Jude. 

"What? Fishing? Oh! O-oh, yes!" Grassvalley nodded. "For example, I learned that the apparatus that one uses to pull a fish closer to shore is called a 'reel,' and the thing on the end is called a 'lure,' and both are very important to the catching of the fish!"

A silence passed. 

"That's common knowledge, isn't it?" asked Earhart. 

"I think Grassvalley was more intent on watching Ludger than listening to him," Jude said at almost the exact same time. 

"Y-you guys." Grassvalley shyly looked down at her feet. "Must you tease me so?" 

"Sorry, G. You're just always so adorable when you get embarrassed." Earhart laughed. "So, what're you guys doing now? Care to join us on the beach here?" 

Internally, Jude sighed. So much for their alone time. 

"Actually, we were going to get dinner over at the hotel's restaurant," Grassvalley pointed to the restaurant on the water, now lighting up with torches and lights in a very romantic way. "Would you care to join us?" 

"Uh... you guys have fun," Earhart replied. "I think Jude and I are gonna hang out here for a bit. We can meet up with you guys later for movie night!" 

"Sounds like a plan," Ludger nodded. "See you later!"

"Good evening," Grassvalley curtsied, before the two held hands and started the walk to the restaurant. 

"...how in the world do they plan to afford that restaurant?" asked Jude. "When Leia and I got here, we were gonna get breakfast there- but after a look at the menu pricing, neither of us were hungry anymore." 

"Dude, don't worry. Grassvalley's parents left her this gigundo inheritance when they died, and now that she's getting closer to 18, Rocks lets her use it sometimes," explained Earhart. "Must've been nice, to be rich at one point..." She sighed. 

"Well..." Jude started. He couldn't stand to see Earhart looking so upset. "You know what they say: more money, more problems. Right?"

"I guess..." she sighed again. 

A brief silence occurred then. "Wanna hear some miscellaneous fish facts?" asked Jude. 

Earhart immediately perked up, nodding. "Yeah!" 

~ * ~ 

"...and that's why they choose to make their homes within anemones."

Jude was running out of marine facts, and was trying his best to remember more, if only to preserve the captivated and extremely cute facial expression that Earhart had at this point. Her green eyes glimmered with wonder and discovery, as her chin rested in both her hands- and the butterflies in Jude's stomach felt like they were engaging in hand-to-hand combat. 

And just when he thought about that, it made an embarrassingly loud growling sound. 

Earhart blinked, staring at him. "Was that you?"

"Yeah. I'm hungry..." Jude admitted. 

"I bet," she laughed. "Wanna go get some grub? I can't take you to a fancy-schmancy restaurant like my fellow Kanonno and her boyfriend or whatever they are right now, but it's probably really stuffy at that place anyway. I'm pretty sure we could go somewhere that's a lot more lit!" 

"Lit..? But there seems to be adequate lighting there..." Jude said, confused. 

Earhart laughed. Loudly. This only confused Jude even more. 

Once she calmed down, she said, "I haven't laughed that hard since Grassvalley asked me what 'on fleek' meant. Oh, Jude. You're great." 

"Thanks." Jude still wasn't sure why that was funny, but Earhart's laugh was like music to his ears. "So, we should go get some dinner."

"Yep." Earhart nodded. 

Jude stood, quickly dusting the sand off of himself, extending a hand to Earhart to help her up. Before he could go back to dusting off sand, she quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

They both stared at each other, both too bashful to speak. Earhart had just told Grassvalley how adorable she was when she was embarrassed, but Earhart herself was quite adorable as well, Jude thought. 

"Jude. I..." she started. 

"Me too!" he blurted out. 

"Really?" Earhart asked excitedly. "'Cause I was always too afraid to tell you, thinking you didn't care about girls, or..."

"Well, I don't care about girls. I care about you," replied Jude. 

Earhart was practically glowing. "Can we... order takeout? I'm sure Grassvalley wouldn't mind that I have you in our room. She usually strictly says 'no males,' but I mean, you're not just any boy. You're Jude!" 

"As long as I don't cause any problems between you two," agreed Jude. 

"You won't! It's all good, I promise."

And so, the two walked hand in hand toward the hotel.

**Author's Note:**

> I remember coming up with this after restarting FFXV after a long period of not playing it- I went to Galdin and thought "now I need to have my ships there"
> 
> also I write more than Jude/Earhart I promise


End file.
